The Los Angeles Angels are in desperate need of healthy pitching depth for the season’s stretch run, and they added some Monday in the form of veteran Mat Latos.
The team announced it signed the right-hander to a major league contract and placed catcher Rafael Lopez on the 60-day disabled list.
The Angels are three games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West and 0.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the final wild-card spot. If Latos pitches for his new team as it chases a playoff berth in the season’s final week, it will mark his American League debut after he played for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted the Angels have a “serious pitching deficit due to injuries.” Jered Weaver and Matt Shoemaker are suffering from nagging injuries, while Huston Street and Joe Smith are both done for the regular season. Perhaps Latos can provide critical innings in some form for Los Angeles following Monday’s move.
Those innings will not come in the postseason, though. Sports Illustrated noted Latos will not be eligible to pitch in the playoffs, should the Angels qualify.
Latos started the season for the Marlins and struggled on the way to a 4.48 ERA in 16 starts. The Dodgers acquired him at the trade deadline, but things got worse when he tallied a 6.66 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. Latos last appeared in a game Sept. 15 as a reliever for the Dodgers, and the team eventually released him after designating him for assignment.
Latos is not far removed from five straight seasons with a sub-3.50 ERA from 2010 to 2014. He was at his best in 2010, when he notched a 2.92 ERA and 189 strikeouts for the Padres, but he was a reliable middle-of-the-rotation starter for most of his career until this season.
He is only 27 years old and likely has years of baseball ahead of him. Perhaps a change of scenery and the chance to help his new team reach the postseason will invigorate Latos in crunch time.
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